Child malnutrition and prenatal care: evidence from three Latin American countries
Forero-Ramirez, N.; Gamboa, L.F.; Bedi, A.; Sparrow, R.
Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica 35(3): 163-171
2014
ISSN/ISBN: 1680-5348 PMID: 24793862 Document Number: 638937
To examine the effect of prenatal care (PNC) on the level and distribution of child stunting in three Andean countries-Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru-where expanding access to such care has been an explicit policy intervention to tackle child malnutrition in utero and during early childhood. An econometric analysis of cross-sectional Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data was conducted. The analysis included ordinary least-squares (OLS) regressions, estimates of concentration curves, and decompositions of a concentration index. The analysis shows that the use of PNC in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru is only weakly associated with a reduction in the level of child malnutrition. Further expansion of PNC programs is unlikely to play a large role in reducing inequalities in malnutrition.